Police: Victim robbed of cellphone at screwdriver-point

Share this story

SEATTLE -- A robber stuck a screwdriver against a man's neck while his two female accomplices stole the man's cellphone Friday night in Rainier Valley, according to the Seattle Police Department.

According to the police report for the incident, the victim was talking on his cellphone shortly before 11 p.m. near Rainier Avenue South and South Rose Street when two women came up and asked if they could use it.

The victim told the women they could borrow the phone after he finished his call; that's when a man came up behind the victim, put him in a chokehold and placed a screwdriver against his neck, according to the report.

While the victim was in the chokehold, one of the women reportedly punched him in the face and took the phone from his hand. The three people then ran off, ignoring the victim's pleas to return his phone, according to the report.

The victim, who was leaving for Alaska for work in a few days, told officers he couldn't breathe while he was in the chokehold and was still having a hard time swallowing.

He said the robber who put him in the headlock was a black man, approximately 5-feet-8-inches tall and 165 pounds with a muscular build and a handlebar mustache growing down the sides of his mouth. He was wearing a blue T-shirt at the time of the robbery.